23rd Legislature(2003-2004)
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00 HOUSE BILL NO. 437
01 "An Act requiring the Department of Education and Early Development to gather and
02 report information about the school attendance status of every child who is a resident of
03 the state who has been admitted to kindergarten or is of school age."
04 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:
05 * Section 1. AS 14.03.078 is amended to read:
06 Sec. 14.03.078. Report. The department shall provide to the legislature by
07 February 15 of each year an annual report regarding the progress of each school and
08 school district toward high academic performance by all students. The report required
09 under this section must include
10 (1) information described under AS 14.03.120(d);
11 (2) the number and percentage of students in each school who pass the
12 examination required under AS 14.03.075, and the number who pass each section of
13 the examination;
14 (3) progress of the department
01 (A) toward implementing the school accountability provisions
02 of AS 14.03.123; and
03 (B) in assisting high schools to become accredited;
04 (4) a description of the resources provided to each school and school
05 district for coordinated school improvement activities and staff training in each school
06 and school district;
07 (5) each school district's and each school's progress in aligning
08 curriculum with state education performance standards;
09 (6) a description of the efforts by the department to assist a public
10 school that receives a designation of deficient or in crisis;
11 (7) a description of intervention efforts by each school district and
12 school for students who are not meeting state performance standards;
13 (8) the number and percentage of turnover in certificated personnel and
14 superintendents;
15 (9) the number of teachers by district and by school who are teaching
16 outside the teacher's area of endorsement but in areas tested by the high school
17 competency examination;
18 (10) the compilation of information contained in the student
19 attendance tracking system under AS 14.03.079(d).
20 * Sec. 2. AS 14.03 is amended by adding a new section to read:
21 Sec. 14.03.079. Attendance tracking system for school children. (a) The
22 department shall develop and implement a system for tracking the attendance status of
23 every child who is a resident of the state who is of school age as described in
24 AS 14.03.070, who is under school age but admitted to school under AS 14.03.080, or
25 who is otherwise attending a kindergarten program. The department shall design the
26 system to provide the department with information necessary to monitor whether each
27 child described in this subsection is in school and advancing appropriately through
28 grade levels. The department and the Department of Health and Social Services shall
29 collaborate, as necessary, to track a child under this section who is in the custody of
30 the state.
31 (b) The department shall require each district to report the following
01 information on a form provided by the department:
02 (1) the age, grade level, and identity of each child described in (a) of
03 this section who is a resident of the district; and
04 (2) the information required to be included in the compilation under
05 (d) of this section.
06 (c) The department shall assign a 10-digit identification number to each child
07 described in (a) of this section who is a resident of the district, which shall be used by
08 the department and each district to track the location of the child under this section.
09 Personal identifying information for each child shall be kept confidential
10 (d) The information received under (b) of this section and from the
11 Department of Health and Social Services shall be compiled annually and maintained
12 by the department in the tracking system. The compilation must include the number
13 of children in each of the following categories:
14 (1) enrolled in a public school full-time or part-time;
15 (2) enrolled in a private school full-time or part-time;
16 (3) enrolled in or attending an alternative education program;
17 (4) moved to another state;
18 (5) transferred to another district in the state; and
19 (6) educational attendance status is unknown.
20 (e) In this section,
21 (1) "alternative education program" means an educational program that
22 is provided in the child's home, other than a correspondence program, or that is
23 provided in a place other than a public or private school in the state;
24 (2) "private school" means a school that does not receive state funding
25 under AS 14.17;
26 (3) "public school" means a school that receives state funding under
27 AS 14.17, including a charter, correspondence, prison, or boarding school program.;
28 (4) "resident of the district" means child who
29 (A) lives in the district; or
30 (B) attends school in another district or another state but
31 whose parent or legal guardian lives in the district.
